Purple Bricks V EA

kinger101

R&C wrote: »

You really wouldn't get to know all these ins & outs if people are just offering via an online form.

I've only used an online agent once, but what you're describing doesn't reconcile with my experience. A sales negotiator with experience gained from a high-street agency dealt with everything. I can't see how it would have been any different with a high-street agent.

The main cost savings appear to come from (a) not doing viewings, and (b) not paying rents on shops in the high street. I don't think they're for everyone or every property, but I think for most people willing to take on some of the responsibility, they offer a great way of saving a lot of money.

Pumpkim

R&C wrote: »

You really wouldn't get to know all these ins & outs if people are just offering via an online form.

We recently tried to buy a property with PB, unfortunately the vendor changed their mind about selling but I really liked the direct messaging service on their portal. I felt that we could have an open dialogue with the vendor and there was less chance of second guessing what the other was thinking and EA BS getting in the way. Maybe I was lucky that we were both pretty straight forward people. I liked the experience as a potential buyer.

Rambosmum

From a buyers perspective I've found PB to be fine, where the owner has done all the work - the viewings and taken the offers/ negotiated. I actually much prefer it to a high street agent for that reason. But I know some will disagree.

ReadingTim

Rambosmum wrote: »

From a buyers perspective I've found PB to be fine, where the owner has done all the work - the viewings and taken the offers/ negotiated. I actually much prefer it to a high street agent for that reason. But I know some will disagree.

And that's the kicker isn't it? The owner does all the work. Not the agent. So what are you paying Purple Bricks for? An online ad on rightmove et al basically, little else.

I suspect that if you've got the time and energy for it, you'll save some money. But what value your time? And if you have a job, then things like daytime viewings are going to be more difficult, plus dealing with no-shows and other timewasters.

Rambosmum

ReadingTim wrote: »

And that's the kicker isn't it? The owner does all the work. Not the agent. So what are you paying Purple Bricks for? An online ad on rightmove et al basically, little else.

I suspect that if you've got the time and energy for it, you'll save some money. But what value your time? And if you have a job, then things like daytime viewings are going to be more difficult, plus dealing with no-shows and other timewasters.

You could end up with a lot of that with a standard agent though - ours didn't have availability to do a lot of weekend or evening viewings because of the demand for property in the area, we ended up doing most of them. And I hate hate hate having to go through a third party when chasing anything, I'd much rather deal direct. We wish we'd used purple bricks. And our agent is nice, switched on and proactive, but it is still irritating.

LuxuryWoman

I just used them to sell my house, the valuation was exactly what I expected but I had the kind of house that sells itself really, spacious 3 bed Victorian end terrace in the town centre, much sought after. I did the viewings myself and enjoyed it but that's me.


I have bought and sold several times so knew what to expect, their solicitors were fine if a bit slow but on the whole it saved me thousands. Offer of asking price within 3 days.


I wouldn't go near them for anything a bit out of the ordinary, say a riverside property, or a listed property, anything that might be a little harder to sell, or needed local area knowledge.


so it's a balance, if you don't sell you still have to pay but like I said it saved me literally thousands. The photos were very good, as was the advert which I just tweaked a little and I liked the agent but then he knew the area fairly well but the agents don't do a great deal tbh.

kinger101

ReadingTim wrote: »

And that's the kicker isn't it? The owner does all the work. Not the agent. So what are you paying Purple Bricks for? An online ad on rightmove et al basically, little else.

I suspect that if you've got the time and energy for it, you'll save some money. But what value your time? And if you have a job, then things like daytime viewings are going to be more difficult, plus dealing with no-shows and other timewasters.

The main value of any estate agent is getting the property advertised in RM (with decent photos). Sadly, independent listings are not possible. After that it's negotiation and then sales progression. I can't speak for Purple Bricks, but I got all of these with Emoov. The only bit I did myself was the text for the advert, and then the viewings. Text only took five minutes. Viewings, two weekends between 10 and 2.

If you're property will sell and you have the confidence to do the viewings, why pay 1-2% + VAT? Before I even tried online agents, I stuck a board in my garden which costed £25 to make (far better quality than the agent's). And a card in the local post office (with 2D barcode to a website). It didn't work, but it was worth the experiment, as I was confident on my pricing. I'd have hated it if I employed an agent to find someone on the same street wanted my house.

sheff6107

I got a lot more viewings after switching from an online agent to an EA.

Credit-Crunched

Was the price the same etc? Its interesting to hear this?

I am torn, am I scrimping on £600 in fees, and doing myself out of a few thousand in an increased PP?...

Ogriv

As a buyer I really liked Purplebricks. One of their agents did the first viewing. Then the owner did the second viewing.
I already had my own solicitor and mortgage offer lined up, so I ignored anything they were pushing there.